


Never-Never Land

by ExpectoPatronum



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic Fluff, Irondad, Multi, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Platonic Cuddling, Poor Peter Parker, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, interrupted by some asshole in a fishbowl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-13 12:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20582855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExpectoPatronum/pseuds/ExpectoPatronum
Summary: ”I’m not doing that. No way.”“Kid, I can’t believe you have so little faith in me.”Peter is sat flat on the living room floor, directly across from Tony. He casts a dubious look at the knife in Tony’s hand. “Didn’t Pepper put child locks on all the kitchen drawers? How did you even get that, Mr. Stark?”“Daddy knows how to open them! He showed me how!” Morgan chimes in from her place at Peter’s hip.Peter’s jaw drops. Tony has the good grace to look a little ashamed of himself.---With Tony Stark still alive after the Snap, Quentin Beck is forced to resort to cruder methods of revenge.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a part of my No More To Roam universe, but can be read on its own. The short version is that Steve used the Time Stone to save Tony before putting back the stones, and Tony made a surprise entrance to his own funeral.

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word_   
_ And never mind that noise you heard_   
_ It's just the beast under your bed_   
_ In your closet, in your head_

_-_ Enter Sandman, Metallica

_ _——-_ _

_ _

”I’m not doing that. No way.”

“Kid, I can’t believe you have so little faith in me.”

Peter is sat flat on the living room floor, directly across from Tony. He casts a dubious look at the knife in Tony’s hand. “Didn’t Pepper put child locks on all the kitchen drawers? How did you even get that, Mr. Stark?”

“Daddy knows how to open them! He showed me how!” Morgan chimes in from her place at Peter’s hip.

Peter’s jaw drops. Tony has the good grace to look a little ashamed of himself.

“Okay, not my best parenting moment. But hey, Mo and I already played this game and look!” Tony extends both hands for Peter’s examination, “Not a mark in sight.”

"Tony, I’m not going to stab your hands!”

“You’re right! You won’t. Because I’ll be much —” Tony empties an entire pint of motor oil all over the hardwood floor between them “—much too fast for you.”

Peter gapes, momentarily horror-struck at the prospect of Pepper arriving home to find motor oil all over her floor. At his side, Morgan giggles into her hands.

“Mr. Stark! I’m not—!”

Tony presses the knife into Peter’s grip, still grinning. He knows he must look as though he’s having the time of his life. Peter looks as though he thinks he’s in the throes of some sort of mid-life mental crisis. “C’mon, Underoos, it’ll be fun! Toss me that towel, Mighty Mouse.”

Morgan does, producing a dish towel from behind her back like a kind of pint-sized magician. Peter shoots her a look of betrayal which sends her skittering out of the way, still giggling.

“Now get your head in the game, kid! We gotta get this up before it stains. On the count of three, I wipe up the spill, and you have to stab me in the hands before I can finish. Are you ready?”

Peter stares, dumbstruck, at the knife in his hand. “Wha—no! No way!”

“One—” Tony leans forward.

”Mr. Stark!”

“Two—” Tony raises his hands, the towel outstretched.

“Nope. Not happening—”

“Three!” The towel is thrown straight into Peter’s face. He sputters around a mouthful of Egyptian cotton even as Tony seizes hold of his ankles and drags him feet-first through the spilled motor oil, cackling like a madman.

It seems to take a moment for Peter’s brain to catch up with the prank. He drops the butter knife to the floor and removes the towel from his face to catch sight of Morgan, bouncing up and down on the couch and squealing with laughter. “Daddy got you! Petey’s got wet pants!”

Tony is bent double with laughter, savoring the expression of mingled shock and feigned outrage on the kid’s face as he catches on. He does his best to hide the smile that threatens, and Tony knows it’s purely for Morgan’s benefit; nothing delights his daughter more than seeing her two heroes go head-to-head.

Peter must know it too, because with an exaggerated roar which he knows will thrill Morgan to death, the kid scrambles to his feet, dripping oil everywhere as he makes a wild lunge for Tony, who can hardly move for laughing. Tony lets himself be tackled, feels the kids arms wrap around his shoulders as they collide and the pair of them topple over the back of the loveseat.

Peter does his best to smother Tony’s laughter in the plush cushions, hiding his grin in the man’s shoulder. “Who’s Earth’s Mightiest Defender now?”

“Think you can take on your old man, Spidey?” Tony frees an arm and fixes Peter in a headlock. “Getting a little big for your britches—oh, shit!” Peter flips them over a hair too far and they crash off the loveseat and onto the floor, knocking over the endtable along the way. A decorative lamp smashes against the hardwood.

“Dad, you’re wrecking the house!” Morgan wails.

“Yeah, _Dad_, you’re wrecking the house!” Peter laughs, doing his best to pin his mentor to the floor and reaching one-handed for the half-empty container of motor oil. “All that gray in your hair, Mr. Stark, it needs a little product. Have you tried —” but he shrieks as Tony drills his fingers into his ribs and regains the upperhand.

“Morgan, go get Daddy his suit. It’s time to whoop some ass.”

The playful wrestling match goes on until there is far more oil outside the container than in it, and Peter is red-faced and breathless with laughter. His plea for a ceasefire is granted, and he stretches out on the now slick floor and struggles to catch his breath. A still grinning and panting Tony drops down beside him.

“Pepper’s gonna kill us,” Tony chuckles, lifting one arm to tuck the kid under it.

“You started it.” Peter wriggles until he can prop his head on Tony’s bicep, turning to muffle a yawn in the man’s shirtsleeve. “My last day here, Mr. Stark, and this is how I’m treated.”

He knows the kid must have meant it as a joke, but the reminder that his break from reality is quickly drawing to a close is sobering all the same. It seems to have a similar effect on Peter, who looks as though he wishes he could take it back.

“I mean — I’m kidding. It’s been amazing, being here. You’ve been great, it’s been so great. I just, I’ll miss this, you know? I’ll really — sorry. Sorry, I’m ruining the moment.”

Tony puffs out a sigh, leaning over to gently knock his head against Peter’s. He tries to sound more sure of himself than he feels. “It’ll be fine, kid. You and Fred will be so busy finding dates and building your Lego Doomstars that I’ll have to drag you back for a visit.”

“Yeah. I’ll be — it’ll be fine.” Peter sits up, no longer meeting Tony’s eyes. His arms have folded around himself so tightly that Tony swears he can hear the kid’s ribs creak in protest. He looks lost, and it pulls at Tony in a such a visceral way that he reaches for Peter without conscious thought. “Hey. C’mere, kid.”

Peter goes willingly, releasing the death-grip he had himself in and wrapping his arms around his mentor instead. His fists close convulsively around the fabric of Tony’s jacket. “M’fine,” he breathes into Tony’s collarbone.

“I know,” Tony murmurs back, pressing his cheek into the kid’s hair. “I’m not worried. I just really like hugs now, it’s a whole thing. I had to make a choice between you or Morgan, and she knows where we keep the knives. It was a tough call. Don’t make me regret it.”

And just as he’d hoped, Peter’s hitched breaths are replaced by a genuine, honest-to-God laugh, and they’re okay again.

_——-_

The parting was every bit as difficult as Tony expected; it wasn't as though it could ever be easy, but it feels as though he's only just gotten Peter back. He'd spent five years without him, and the prospect of separation, of any distance or length of time, feels oddly foreboding.

Happy had volunteered to set-up the Parkers’ new residence ahead of time. Real-estate in the city was in unsurprisingly high demand with the return of half the planet, but Tony had secured them a new, furnished unit in Queens in record time. With the move-in of their old things from the storage facility Happy had originally placed them in after the Snap, all that was needed to complete the home was the Parkers themselves.

It was necessary, Tony knew. They had to get back to living. The kid had to move on with his life, now that he had it back. It was just — there was something in the way Peter watched him out the window as the Audi faded from view. Something like rejection.

But it was nothing. It wasn’t anything. Peter had to go back to school, he had to be a kid again. Much as he wanted to, Tony couldn’t keep him holed away in the lake house for the rest of his days.

Pepper’s advice was to let the kid get settled in, and so Tony forces himself not to call the moment he’s sure they must have arrived in the city. He kisses Morgan goodnight and watches Pepper read, and finally retreats to the porch where he can have what feels to be a rapidly approaching meltdown in relative privacy.

Just as he’s settled himself on the porch swing, his phone lights up with a video call request.

Tony’s heart leaps. Overwhelming relief makes him clumsy, and his fingers fumble over the screen until Peter’s face appears, his hair wet and curling as though he’s just stepped out of the shower. He looks surprised to see Tony’s face staring back at him. “Hey, Mr. Stark! Oh man, I didn’t think you’d answer!”

It hurts a little to hear his doubt. But Tony knows the memory of straight-to-voicemail calls and empty suits are fresher in Peter’s mind than his.

“’Course I answered. What’ve you been doing, drowning in tears since you left me? You’re soaked. Dry your hair, you little miscreant. You’ll make yourself sick.”

Peter scoffs, flopping back onto his pillows. “You bought us __Turkish bath towels__, Mr. Stark. Those are like — crazy expensive. I looked ‘em up. They feel like angel wings, I can’t ruin those. I’ll just air dry.”

“I built you a multi-million dollar suit and you spilled pizza sauce on it. Twice.” Tony knows he’s smiling ridiculously, sounds way too fond.

“That’s different,” Peter yawns. “Anyway, I just wanted to, you know. Check-in. The new place looks great, really, May is just blown away. She says it’s the first time she’s owned a dishwasher that doesn’t smell like melted tires when you turn it on.”

Tony snorts, not bothering to hide a smile. “Glad you like it, kid. Get some sleep before tomorrow. Big day. School, friends, Spidey — I know you’ll be back webbing up bad guys the first chance you get.”

He sees it only for a split second: a shadow of doubt that falls over Peter’s face and vanishes just as quickly. But it’s there, he knows it is. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll — I’ll be back at it in no time.”

“Hey,” Tony pulls his focus back, giving the camera a little shake for good measure. “I believe in you, Pete. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay,” Peter manages a smile. He looks as though he’s struggling with his next words; his mouth opens and closes a few times before he settles on, “Thanks again, Tony. ‘Night.”

“’Night, Underoos.” The call ends, and Tony wonders if this is how other parents feel when their kids leave home: restless and somehow bereft. He shakes his head to dispel the feeling, rising from his seat on the porch to seek out Pepper in the cabin. Before he can make it all the way in, his phone lights up with a text, and the words Peter had been unable to say face-to-face now light up the screen:

_Love you._

He’s never typed so fast in his life.

_Love you tons, kid. Get some rest._

_ _——-_ _

For the next week, it carries on like that; Tony and Peter keep in contact throughout the day via text or video chat, and Peter tells Tony all about his life at a school where half the students and faculty are entirely new to him.

“But the cafeteria ladies, Mr. Stark, they’re _all still here_. Isn’t that crazy? They look exactly the same.”

“That’s wild, kid.”

“Yeah, I know! And Ned and I have the same teacher for AP History as we would’ve had, except now she looks _super_ old. Our Physics teacher is new, though, and he knows his stuff, but last year — I mean, five years ago, I guess — the Physics teacher was this super hot Brazilian lady. I wonder what happened to her? Ow!” There’s a scuffling sound at the other end of the line. Tony sighs.

“I’m not gonna lie, Pete, I feel a little uncomfortable having this conversation with you while you’re struggling with an armed criminal.”

“I think you’re being a little dramatic, Mr. Stark. He’s armed with a taser. Who even commits crimes with a taser? Like, get a life. Pick something less stupid.” This, apparently, to the baddie grunting beneath what Tony assumes is a net of webbing.

Tony casts a quick glance at the read-out from Peter’s suit, which FRIDAY has thoughtfully projected into view: the kid’s vitals are all within normal limits. “I’m gonna let you go so you can focus on getting home without giving me a heart attack, Spider-Kid. Think you can manage that?”

“Oh, definitely. Don’t worry about me, Mr. Stark, I’m doing great. The suit improvements are really — aw, come on, man, spitting? Not cool!” The call clicks off

_——-_

When the weekend arrives, Happy drives down to the city to pick up the kid for a visit. The Audi hasn’t yet rolled to a stop on the gravel drive before Peter is flinging open the door and barreling at Tony with such obvious excitement that he can’t help but jog out to meet him halfway, opening his arms just so Peter can crash right into them. The force of the hug knocks Tony back into the grass, a laughing Peter pulled along with him.

“Sorry — shit, sorry, that was really dumb.” Peter giggles a little nervously, but his grip on Tony never slackens. Tony pats his back consolingly, watching from the corner of his eye as Happy exits the Audi, exclaiming loudly about the need for child-locks.

“Good to see you too, Beetleborg. Come on, Pepper’s got grub on already.”

They make their way into the cabin, where a squealing Morgan launches herself at Peter’s midsection, clearly trusting him to catch her. He does, seizing her under the arms and letting her cling to him like a limpet, beaming all the while. “Hi, Mo! How’s the world’s smartest Stark doing?”

“Good!” Morgan tilts back her head and fixes him with her most adoring smile. “Hungry! Can you get me a—”

“Nope,” Tony cuts in, trying to keep up a stern facade. He knows a smile will only encourage her, but her powers of manipulation are something to behold. “You can’t con Peter into spoiling your appetite. No juice pops before lunch.”

“Maybe just one?” Peter hedges, swayed by the way her little eyes go round with sorrow as though she hasn’t spent the morning eating half a bag of stolen marshmallows, and Tony knows the battle is lost.

Over lunch, Peter fills them in on life in the city.

“Ned’s got no chill, Mr. Stark, honestly. He told his new girlfriend about how he works with Spider-Man right in the middle of class,” the kid rolls his eyes as he reaches for the mustard bottle.

“Did she believe him?” Pepper’s brow furrows with concern as she leans over to cut up Morgan’s hot dog into little round pieces.

“Well, yeah. But she also believes he owned a Mercedes before the blip, so that doesn’t mean much. Nobody else believed him, though. Flash was ripping on him until the teacher told him to simmer down. But…” he trails off, staring contemplatively at his glass of orange juice.

“But?” Tony prompts.

Peter flushes red. “Oh, nothing, sorry. It’s just, um. There’s this girl.”

Something mischievous must show on Tony’s face, because Pepper points a threatening finger in his direction. “Stop. No. We’re not having girl advice at my table.”

“What’s girl advice?” Morgan chimes in around a mouthful of hotdog.

Tony opens his mouth to speak again, and Pepper slaps a hand over his lips. “It’s something no one should ever get from Daddy.”

Peter chokes on his mouthful of potato salad and Happy slaps him dutifully on the back. He swallows thickly. “Thanks. Anyway, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant…sometimes she looks at me like — Mr. Stark, stop making that face! — she looks at me like she, um, suspects something.”

“Something like Spider-Man?” Pepper frowns.

Peter shrugs. “I dunno. Maybe?”

Tony shakes off a prickle of unease and reaches over to squeeze the kid’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine, Pete. It’s like you said, no one believed Fred. Your Spidey identity is safe. Look at all the people sitting at this table. Can you really picture one of us letting a major secret get out?”

Happy casts Tony a dubious stare. “Well.”

Peter’s gaze cuts sideways to the refrigerator, where one of Morgan’s more colorful drawings is pinned up: it bears a labeled family portrait, containing meticulously drawn versions of Iron Man, Rescue, and Spider-Man. A thick crayon arrow points at each figure, above which Morgan’s childish handwriting proclaims them to be: __Daddy, Mommy, Peter__.

Across the table, Pepper lets out a sigh and massages her temples.

“Okay,” Tony cuts in, “can we just — let’s all relax. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, Underoos, okay? And now I’m going to change the subject. You won’t even notice it happening. This lunch is great, honey.”

_——-_

When Sunday evening rolls around, Tony loads Peter back into the Audi with a little less trepidation than the first time he left. Peter, too, seems more at ease with the parting; he rolls his eyes fondly when Tony makes a show of kissing both his cheeks like an Italian mother, but hugs him just as tightly as he always has.

Tony strolls back into the cabin and cozies in beside Pepper on the loveseat, dropping his head into her lap and closing his eyes as her fingers comb a familiar path through his hair.

“You’re doing well, you know. You’ve got this parenting thing down to a science now.”

He opens his eyes. She’s staring down at him with a smile that warms him from the inside out, the smile that has saved his life more times than he can count — that is still saving him. It remains the only thing that can render him speechless. He reaches for her free hand and presses a reverent kiss into the back of it.

He doesn’t know how long he lays there, basking in the warmth of her company. He only knows that some time later, she is stroking his cheek to wake him, her voice a hushed whisper in the dark. “It’s late, hon. Let’s go to bed.”

He lets her lead him down the hall to their bedroom, slips into the ensuite, and it hits him with a sudden chill: his phone is silent.

He reaches for it to check, sure Pepper would not have let him sleep through a call from the kid — sure enough, there are no missed calls or texts. No notifications. He isn’t sure whether to feel relieved or…

But after all, he’d dozed off himself. What was to say the kid hadn’t done the same? Happy would have called by now if he’d run into trouble getting the kid home, and the fact that Peter hadn’t reached out mere hours after having seen Tony didn’t mean anything except that he was a teenager. It was healthy, probably.

So it’s fine. They’re fine. He should let the kid sleep. There’s a fine line to walk here; too much contact and he’s hovering, too little contact and he’s Howard.

He sends the text anyway.

_Love you, Pete._

He slides under the covers beside Pepper, and falls back to sleep waiting for a reply.

_——-_

When the morning dawns, he wakes to find no missed calls or texts. But it’s early yet, and the kid is a late riser, and he knows for a fact that Midtown School is closed for some obscure bank holiday — he’s probably sleeping in. They’d spoken over the weekend about Tony, Pepper and Morgan heading in to the city for a visit mid-week to the Parkers’ new home, and Tony decides it’s as good an excuse as any to check-in. He fires off a text at the dining room table as Morgan stares balefully at her breakfast.

_Wanna hit the zoo later this week? The Mouse has been dying to see that new baby spider-monkey. _He includes a string of nonsense emojis he knows will get a reaction out of Peter, who can sculpt entire paragraphs out of the things.

By the time Morgan has finished her oatmeal and Pepper has left for work only after replacing Tony’s coffee with de-caf, the kid still hasn’t responded.

And that’s…unusual, Tony thinks. Two texts unanswered. And Peter isn’t the leave-you-on-read kind of kid, particularly where Tony is concerned. His hand reaches for his phone. He hesitates.

Morgan grips hold of the table cloth as she slides out of her booster chair and onto the floor. The table cloth and its contents slide with her, apple juice and dirty plates and all. He counts to ten in his head before he reacts, praying for patience. It's a distraction. He'd wanted a distraction.

So maybe he’ll give it a little longer.

_——-_

He makes it until almost Noon, and then he calls Happy.

“Hey, Boss.” Happy’s voice is a little too high, and his face is both entirely too close to the camera and a little too pink. He looks almost shifty, and Tony is temporarily distracted from his panic by the sight of it.

“Hey yourself,” he narrows his eyes, “Why am I staring up your left nostril? Hold the camera away from your face.”

Happy adjusts until his entire head fits in the frame. “Ha, sorry. I was just — what’s up?”

“You look like you’re up to something. Are you up to something? Did you forget to take your baby aspirin today? Nevermind. Listen, have you heard from the kid?”

Happy frowns, suddenly serious. “Which kid? The kid kid? Peter? Not since I dropped him off last night. Why? What’s—”

“What about Peter?” cuts in another voice entirely, and for the second time in as many minutes, Tony’s train of thought his completely derailed.

“Is that — is that _Aunt May_?” Tony is aghast as Happy gives up the game and holds his phone at a more reasonable distance so that May Parker, still dressed in her work scrubs, is visible beside him.

“Can we not do this right now?” Happy pleas, now definitely red in the cheeks. “We’ll do it later, I promise. But what about Peter? What’s going on?”

“Um,” Tony fumbles, struggling to dispel the barrage of mental images that have suddenly been conjured up and focus on the kid, “Yeah, the kid. It might be nothing, it’s just — he hasn’t texted me back since last night.”

“That’s not nothing,” May frowns, “not by a long shot. Peter always texts back. Peter would text back Hitler.”

“Jesus, thanks,” Tony scowls. May rolls her eyes.

“And he adores you, Tony, he wouldn’t leave you hanging. Could he be out doing…_you know_,” she raises her eyebrows meaningfully and mimes shooting a web, “his internship?”

“FRIDAY, pull up the feed from the Spider—” he begins, but Happy lets out a shout of alarm and drops his phone. For a moment, Tony can see nothing but blue skies and the pointy ends of Manhattan’s skyscrapers, but then, just for a moment, a flash of red and blue.

“Happy!” he barks, feeling suddenly panicked.

“Sorry! Sorry,” Happy’s face swims back into view, but he isn’t looking at Tony; he’s watching something Tony can’t see, and his face goes oddly slack. “That’s — is that —?”

Tony can’t understand what has the head of security so puzzled until he turns the phone the other way round, so that Tony can see it, too, and it’s Spider-Man. It’s definitely Spider-Man. That’s the suit, he’d know it anywhere, he _built _it, but—

“Something’s wrong,” May’s voice is tight with fear, and Tony can see why, because something __is__ wrong. Spider-Man is careening between buildings in slow, graceless arcs, his movements clumsy and uncoordinated and somehow _off._

“Is he drunk?” Happy wonders aloud, and receives a slap on the arm from May. “Okay, sorry, I know he doesn’t drink! It’s just, he looks—”

Tony regains his senses in time to finish his earlier command. “FRI, pull up Peter Parker’s vitals.”

The holographic projection appears, but its glowing red heart is motionless; its usually diverse set of numbers a solid line of _zero, zero, zero_. __Tony’s heart seems to stop along with it. “FRIDAY, what—?”

“Peter Parker is not wearing his tracker band, boss.” FRIDAY explains, and Tony’s instant relief that the kid isn’t dead is short-lived, because Peter didn’t take it off. Peter would never take it off without warning, he wouldn’t do that to Tony.

“Give me — gimme Spider-Man’s visual and audio feed. Track the suit. Do it now.”

“Tracking now,” FRIDAY’s cool voice does little to calm the racing of his heart, which only increases when, after a pause— “Unable. I’m sorry, boss. There seems to be interference blocking the signal.”

But that isn't possible. It isn't. He’d taken extra precautions after the kid’s friend had hacked through the Training Wheels Protocol. “Patch Karen through. Have her run diagnostics.”

“Unable,” FRIDAY sounds almost apologetic.

Tony feels his fingers go numb. He ignores the frantic yelling from the phone, heading for the door even as he tries to stave down the panic burgeoning in his chest. “Fine. Just — suit. Get a suit ready, I’ll have to —”

“Boss, suit deployment requires secondary authorization.”

Pepper. God, he’ll have to tell Pepper. It’s a protocol he’d set for himself after Thanos, an incentive to stick to his retirement. There is no getting around it — as long as Pepper is alive and safe, there is no bypassing the restriction. But she’ll understand — of course she will, she loves Peter. She’ll let him go, she’d never stop him —

The floor seems to drop from beneath him when the realization hits: Pepper is at work. Pepper is at work and Tony is home with Morgan, and she’s watching cartoons on the sofa and still wearing her unicorn pajamas and he can’t leave her alone. He can’t. She needs him. She’s—

She’s screaming.

“Daddy, Daddy, DADDY! LOOK!” Morgan’s voice is shrill with terror in a way that makes his blood run cold. He doubles back to the living room, his arm outstretched instinctively to summon a suit that won’t come, it __won’t come__—

Down the hall, into the room where Morgan is inches from the TV, her tiny hands over her mouth, and he looks at the screen—

“—watching the scene again, Susan, as SPIDER-MAN, the masked menace, the famed protege of Iron Man Tony Stark, destroys the Brooklyn Bridge in an act of terrorism—” the red-faced man on the screen looks positively gleeful, gesticulating wildly at the evidence on display: helicopter footage zooms in as Spider-Man hangs from a support beam, firing grenade webs indiscriminately. Explosions rock the bridge, and cars screech to a halt as their occupants flee in terror, some of them wounded, smoke obscuring the scene.

Another grenade web meets its mark a little too close to his perch, and Spider-Man sways precariously from his web, clutching it clumsily for support. And Tony can see now what the others can’t — he can see the way the suit stretches too tightly over the man’s shoulders, the way the bottom of the mask doesn’t quite cover the pale line of skin at the neck, the way its wearer’s aim is thrown off when his wrists flex too far inward as he stretches his finger for the palm trigger—

“It isn’t Peter. That’s not him. That’s—” His words choke off as the full weight of what he's seeing — what it means — strikes him dumb.

It isn't Peter in the suit. It's someone else.

Peter would never, ever, let his suit be taken unless he—unless—

Pain lances up his left arm and he can’t breathe. His daughter rushes to him, but he can’t see her, he can’t see anything past the carnage on the screen.

His phone falls from his hand, he can hear screaming at the other end of it, muffled explosions as Happy and May try their best to get through to him.

It’s like he’s there on the bridge, scorched skin and choking breaths and smoke in his eyes. Distantly, he feels Morgan’s little hands on his cheeks. Her face swims back into view, all big eyes and panicked baby tears and he can’t do this now, he can’t, his kids need him. His kids need him.

“Tony! Tony, snap out of it! We have to get to him, I have to —”

“I’m getting May out of here, Tony, it’s too dangerous—”

“Peter! PETER!!”

“I’m coming,” Tony says, and he ends the call.


	2. Chapter 2

_Dreams of war, dreams of liars_  
_Dreams of dragon's fire_  
_And of things that will bite  
Sleep with one eye open_  
_Gripping your pillow tight_

\- Enter Sandman, Metallica

\---

His phone is blowing up with calls, but he doesn’t bother checking to see who they’re from.

“FRIDAY, call Rhodey.”

The phone rings only once before Rhodey answers.

“Stay where you are,” is the first thing he says, his voice tight. “I’m serious, Tones. I’m working on it. Sam is on his way in now. They’ve been instructed to use non-lethal force only, they won’t hurt the kid. But we don’t know what kind of voodoo shit he’s under, and if you get thrown into the mix–”

“It’s not Peter!” Tony interrupts hastily, before another phrase like ‘non-lethal force’ can send him back into an emotional tailspin. “It’s not him. Someone else is in the suit.”

A stunned silence follows. Then, “Tony, _who–?_”

“I don’t know. Something’s blocking the comms, I can’t get in. But Peter–” his phone buzzes as another call comes through, Pepper’s face illuminated on the screen. “That’s Pep. I gotta tell her, Rhodey, can you–?”

“Yeah. I’ll keep you posted man, just – stay put, okay?”

Tony doesn’t answer. He switches over to the waiting call. “Pepper–”

“I know, honey. I saw,” her voice is gentle, but it rises quickly in volume until it carries. “FRIDAY, can you hear me? Authorize suit deployment. Access code 73723, Virginia Potts.”

“Authorization accepted. Deploying now, boss.” FRIDAY’s approval is interrupted by the distant thrum of repulsors charging in the garage, metal re-forming from nanotech.

His knees go weak; the crashing wave of relief at the familiar sound and the overwhelming gratitude for his wife renders Tony unable to speak, his throat tight. Pepper goes on,“You have it, Tony. Okay? You have it, but you won’t use it.”

He struggles to find his voice, to steady himself. “I won’t –?”

“Not yet. You won’t leave Morgan alone, Tony. You have to think through this.”

He shakes his head, forces himself to breathe in. “You can come home, you can stay with her–”

“I can’t,” she sounds frustrated, “There’s no getting in or out of the city right now, they’ve closed off the air space.”

He can feel his breaths coming shorter again, can feel the pressure building in his chest. “Someone’s got him, Pep – some maniac got to him, they’re in the suit, I can’t get through!”

He swears he can hear the gears turning in her head, can hear her thinking as she absorbs this new information. Her voice is slow and measured. “Then it’s someone who planned in advance. They figured out who he was, they knew how to trap him.”

“There’s no one. It wouldn’t work, even if they–” Tony clamps down on his own frustration, knows she’s trying to get him to sort through everything, to work the problem. He sucks in another breath and tries again. “No one can take that suit off him, not against his will. Even if he’s unconscious. There’s a safeguard built in, the Child Lock Protocol, it won’t disengage unless he’s–”

“He’s not. He’s not, honey,” her voice is gentle again, calm and steady. “He’s alive. He must have taken it off himself, given it to someone else…” but her voice trails off, and Tony can tell she doesn’t really believe it.

“He wouldn’t. Who the hell would he even give it to?”

“His friend, maybe? The computer expert?” Pepper offers, but she sounds doubtful. “He’s the only other person who knows, and it must have been someone he trusted. What’s his name?”

“Ned Leeds,” Tony supplies automatically, and instantly imagines the way Peter would have reacted on finding out that Tony had never actually thought the kid’s name was ‘Fred.’ His eyes water, and he pushes the thought from his mind.

“Do you have his number?” Pepper prompts, and Tony’s heart sinks.

“No,” he can barely get the word out around the self-recrimination in his throat, “he got a new one after he came back. Pete knew the old one by heart, he was crushed when he found out. He kept trying to memorize the new one, just in case. He turned it into a song to help him remember, he keeps singing it when he’s out on patrol, I must’ve listened to it a thousand times but I–”

“Okay,” Pepper cuts in softly, “it’s okay, honey. You’re spiraling. May will have it, okay? I’ll call her. She’s with Happy–”

And Tony almost laughs, because of course Pepper already knows, but the memory of Peter’s patrols calls to mind something else, something painfully obvious that had been lost to him in the fog of his panic: “His suit feed backs up to FRIDAY’s database automatically. If that freak didn’t start blocking the signal until after he took the suit, I should still be able to play back whatever the kid saw before he– before he lost it.”

Pepper hesitates a moment. “Play back? As in video? Audio?”

“Both,” Tony hopes, now anxious to pull up the footage, to do something useful, but Pepper stops him.

“In the basement, Tony,” her voice is suddenly urgent, “Watch it in the lab. Leave the suit with Morgan, don’t let her see, or…or hear…” and for the first time, he can hear it in her voice: the same fear that rips through his insides, the fear of what may have happened – might still be happening. However sure of his safety she had sounded for Tony’s sake, she is afraid for Peter, too, and her fear propels him out of his own the way nothing else can.

“In the lab, out of sight. Try to find Ned, Pep. I love you. I’ve gotta go.”

The call ends. He turns on his heels and there in the middle of his living room is the Iron Man suit, standing guard over Morgan, who is glancing between the suit and her father as though unsure which to run to. He holds out his arms to her and she throws herself into them and clings, still trembling.

“I heard what you said! You said a bad guy has Petey!”

“Dad’s gonna help him, baby. I have to go down to the lab, and you have to stay up here with Iron Man. That’s how we help Peter right now. Okay?” He brushes a hand over her cheek as she nods, and God, she looks so afraid, and he knows he’s handling this all wrong, but they don’t have _time_.

He leaves the suit to keep watch over his daughter, and hurtles for the stairs.

–- -

FRIDAY doesn’t wait for him to ask; the screen glows to life the moment he enters the room at the bottom of the stairs, and the first video begins to play.

He’s looking out of the back seat of the Audi through Peter’s eyes. Tony is momentarily stumped before it occurs to him that he must be watching a recording from late in the previous evening, on the drive back from the lake house. The camera pans to the windows as the kid looks through them, and the wall of congested city traffic surrounding them tells Tony they’re not far from their destination.

Peter faces forward again and makes a point of clearing his throat. Happy’s face is just visible in the rear view mirror as he glances up, catching a glimpse of the scene behind him and rolling his eyes. _“Aw jeeze, kid, not in the car! Take the mask off, what if someone sees you?”_

Peter’s voice comes through clear as a bell. __“_C’mon, Happy, the tints on these windows are crazy dark! Probably illegal level dark, even. No one’s gonna see in. Did you know this thing records video? It’ll be like my old vlogs back in Germany, remember those?”_

_ “I try not to. I’m serious, kid, mask off. Or we’re not stopping for that Slurpee.” _

Peter huffs a sigh, reaches up to remove the mask, and the video cuts out. Tony releases the breath he’s been holding, unsure whether to feel relieved at the tame nature of the footage or frustrated by its total lack of anything resembling a lead. Before he can make up his mind, the screen flares back to life.

This time, the kid is balanced on the edge of what Tony guesses to be the roof of the Parkers’ new building. The dark sky and lit street lamps are the only indication of the late hour, the amount of time that must have passed.

__“_Karen, where’s it coming from?”_ whispers Peter, the camera tilting as he cocks his head to one side like a dog searching for the source of a strange sound. Whatever he hears is inaudible to Tony’s ears.

The suit isn’t designed to record feedback from its A.I., but Karen must have replied; Peter chirps out a quick thanks and takes off into the air.

Tony can tell by Peter’s speed and altitude that he isn’t intending to travel very far, and by the time he’s two blocks over, he can hear what the kid is after: a man’s voice is screaming for help, begging as though his life depends on it. The camera swoops and volleys as Peter picks up the pace, drawing closer. __“_I’m coming,”_ he whispers, _“I’m coming, man, just hold on…”_

Ahead, the screaming echoes from within what looks to be an old, empty department store – a warehouse, maybe? Tony knows plenty of these ghost town fixtures still remain, leftovers of the post-blip economy crash and subsequent rioting. Peter scales the exterior of the building until he reaches a broken window set high into the wall. He slides through.

The interior of the building is strangely empty, devoid of the usual rows of empty shelving or machinery that might have hinted as to its original purpose. The concrete floor is barren even of the typical detritus which might have indicated the presence of squatters.

The camera somersaults as Peter flips down to the floor, raises again as he lifts his head, searching–

A bald-headed, bespectacled man is illuminated by a sliver of moonlight through the broken window, his face partially obscured, choking and crushed within the grasp of something enormous, something monstrous–

“What the _fuck_?” Tony and Peter’s reactions are in sync. The camera leans in, and Tony leans with it, because what he’s seeing can’t be real.

A gigantic fist rises out of the concrete floor, its fingers locked tightly around the bald-headed man, its surface rippling and sliding at the outer layer like – sand? Earth? Tony can’t tell.

_ “What the hell is that thing, Karen?!” _

No sooner has Peter said it than the thing turns round sharply as if suddenly aware of his arrival, crumbling and shifting as it moves. The fingers release their hold on the choking victim who falls hard to the floor, gasping for breath.

__“_O-okay. That’s, um. That’s something, at least,”_ Peter stutters slightly, clearly shaken, but raises his voice to a shout as he addresses the man on the floor, _“Get out of here, man, run! I’ll cover you!”_

The guy doesn’t need telling twice – he books it out of the building as the monstrous hand begins to shift and contort, its material expanding, growing out of seemingly nothing at all until it reaches almost to the ceiling, a pillar of earth – no, a _torso_, __Tony realizes– and advances on Peter, who actually squeaks with fear.

“Call for back-up,” Tony orders numbly, mouth dry, heart pounding. “Do it, kid. Call for help.”

Karen must have delivered similar advice, might even have started to sound the alarm on Peter’s behalf, because the kid yelps, _“No, no, wait! Not yet! I can do this, I can–”_

The ground to Peter’s left explodes as the thing’s fist connects with the concrete, barely missing him. He springs into action, the camera whirling as he fires webs at the walls, the ceiling – trying his best to get an angle on the thing even as it continues to grow, a hideous face forming out of its rocky surface, snarling with rage.

_“Distraction, I need a – Karen, can you deploy a drone?” _Peter gasps, dodging a second blow from the monster. With a metallic buzzing, a spider-drone is released from the kid’s suit. It zips around behind the creature, flying purposefully close to its enormous head, which turns to follow its movement, its attention pulled away from its main target.

Peter banks sharply in mid-air, grabbing onto one of the overhead beams with one hand and steadying himself. He fires a web grenade right into the center of the beast – the web streaks through the air, seems to flicker strangely – and passes through the creature without a trace. It explodes against the far wall, brick and webbing sent in every direction.

Peter hangs in place, obviously puzzled. _“What–?”_

He’s still for a moment too long. The sand monster slams a fist into the ceiling above his head; the spot just above him explodes, huge chunks of debris raining down over top of him. The overhead beam Peter hangs from snaps as it’s swept beneath an avalanche of rubble that crashes to the floor, burying the kid beneath it.

_“No!”_ Peter gasps, and the fear in his voice sets Tony’s heart racing. The camera is covered with dust, impossible to see through.

“FRIDAY, switch to the drone cam,” Tony orders, and the picture re-appears, this time from a bird’s eye view. Beneath the drone, Peter frees an arm and paws ineffectually at the eyes of his mask, struggling to clear his view.__“_No, no, come on–”_

He’s panicking – Tony can hear it in the frantic, too-quick breaths still audible through the speakers. He can see it in the way the kid remains pinned on his back beneath the rubble, fighting wildly to free himself, staring up at the beast as it raises its fist again, preparing to strike–

The beast’s roar is interrupted by the whirr of repulsors, and Tony’s head snaps towards the stairs, towards Morgan and the suit– but the sound isn’t coming from upstairs. It’s coming from the screen.

Iron Man bursts through the broken window of the warehouse, repulsors raised threateningly at the creature still looming over Peter.

_“I’m here! Tony, I’m down here!”_ Peter’s relief is palpable, and it _hurts_, because now, at last, Tony can see what’s happening.

The understanding of what he’s seeing – what it means, and what must be about to happen next – crashes over Tony all at once, sliding like ice down his spine.

This is Stark tech. This is __his own technology. __Incredibly vivid projected images, probably backed by some sort of weaponry to cause the explosions. Smoke and mirrors in dazzling technicolor, the early stages of an invention he had molded into a therapy tool once he realized the hideously dangerous potential it held for anything else; at the time, he’d pictured large-scale government sponsored hoaxes designed to stir a country into war, or corrupt officials re-framing their own misdeeds, manufacturing false alibis…

He’d never imagined it would become a torture device to be used on his own kid.

On the screen, the threat of the repulsors is enough to cause the sand monster to retreat. It crumbles in on itself like a sinkhole before vanishing entirely, leaving no trace of it behind. The spider-drone’s camera follows Iron Man’s movements as he crosses the floor of the warehouse to where Peter is still trapped. Tony watches as the fake Iron Man lifts away the support beam the kid is still pinned beneath, straining his eyes for evidence of the machinery which must be at work creating the illusion – but now that he thinks about it, how is the fake Iron Man able to physically move _anything_? Real objects should pass right through the projection, just as Peter’s web grenade had flown through the “beast.”

He’s only just begun to consider whether it might be possible to overlay a projection on a human being as a sort of digital costume when the Iron Man suit opens, and _Tony fucking Stark_ steps out of it.

The kid removes his mask as he scrambles to safety, and the expression of relief on his face is in total contrast to the dread in Tony’s gut.

_“Tony!”_ Peter’s voice is brimming with gratitude and adoration as he lunges towards his apparent savior and all but crashes into the doppelganger’s arms. Tony’s body actually twitches with the urge to return the embrace the teenager is clearly expecting.

Not-Tony, however, is rigid and ramrod straight; his hands grip Peter’s shoulders without their usual warmth, and Tony can see the moment Peter realizes something is wrong – the kid freezes in place half a second before Not-Tony uses his grip to push him violently away.

Peter stumbles backwards with the force of it, and Tony finds himself taking an instinctive step forward as though to steady him before he remembers himself. Any embarrassment he might have felt at his blunder is wiped away by Peter’s expression: pure, defenseless hurt.

_“What the hell were you doing out there, Parker?” _Not-Tony’s voice trembles with anger, and Tony watches as Peter seems to shrink in on himself.

_“I – there was – I heard someone screaming and then this thing, it just…it attacked, and I– I wanted to help, so I–”_

Not-Tony cuts in sharply, _“You got involved in a mess you had no business being any part of, and forced me to swoop in and save the day. ”_

For a split second, Tony can see Peter’s brow furrow with what looks to be doubt.

_“But – but you said I should–”_

Not-Tony switches tactics.

_“Or maybe it was on purpose? Was it just that you wanted to see how fast I’d come running if you were in danger? Was that your game?”_

Tony, who has always loved the way Peter wears his heart on his sleeve, now wishes desperately that the kid had a better poker face; the way the color drains from his cheeks makes it clear that Not-Tony has struck pay dirt.

__“_N-no! Please, I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t mean to – you don’t have to–”_ Peter’s stammering protest cuts through Tony like a knife.

_“You’re right. I don’t.” _Not-Tony remains as cold as ice, and Tony feels a sudden dread creep up his spine. _“I think this relationship has run its course, don’t you?”_

There is a long pause in which Peter desperately searches Not-Tony’s face, and Tony knows what he’s looking for; he’s seen enough footage and photos of himself with the kid. But the usual warmth and affection that lights up Tony’s eyes whenever he looks at his family is absent in Not-Tony.

_“Run its…its course?”_ Peter’s voice is hoarse and disbelieving. Tony has never heard anyone sound so crushed, and it makes him appear somehow younger. His head swims with the sudden and overwhelming desire to reach out and comfort the kid.

_“I had a pretty good thing going for a few years, you know. A wife and a kid. Nice little retirement. Maybe it’s time to get back to that. Think I’ve earned the right to some peace and quiet, don’t you?”_

Peter’s adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. He nods.

Not-Tony’s tone is ruthless as he continues, __“_Saved the universe, didn’t I? I brought everyone back. I brought you back. Maybe that’s where I went wrong.”_

Tony’s stomach seems to plummet and lift so quickly he tastes bile in his throat, because God, those words spoken in his own voice area nauseating, but this is where Peter will see through the farce. This is where the kid will realize something is up. Because Tony could never regret saving Peter. There is no version of Peter who could fail to realize that.

Peter’s mouth opens as if to speak, and Tony feels a surge of victory.

It’s extinguished with the click of Peter’s teeth as his mouth closes. His face is colorless. His gaze drops to the floor.

“No. No, come on, kid,” Tony has taken several steps forward without realizing it, “That’s not me. You know that’s not me.”

Not-Tony’s expression borders on smug. __“_Can’t deny it, can you? You’ve had your fun. Had a nice time playing superhero, milking me out of millions of dollars worth of gear, swanning around my home as if you think you’re my son. Taking me away from time with my family. My daughter. That’s plenty. That’s enough. Don’t you think?”_

Peter looks up again, utterly stricken.

_“I – sir, I’m so –”_

Not-Tony advances on Peter. Peter cowers.

Something in Tony’s chest pulls as taut and unforgiving as a bowstring, and he is forced to turn his back on the grotesque display before the pressure can snap it in two.

Behind him, the spectacle continues to play out. Not-Tony’s voice drips with contempt.

_“You agree with me, don’t you? Spider-Man?”_

Peter’s reply is almost inaudible. He sounds as though the wind has been knocked out of him. He sounds as breathless and gutted as Tony feels.

_“Yes, sir.”_

_“Yes, sir. Perfect. Then you can get the hell out of my life. Door’s just behind you.”_

There is a sharp, reedy sound like a sudden intake of breath followed by the soft rustle of fabric hitting the tile floor, and Tony knows without looking that Peter has dropped his suit and tracker. He can’t see it, but he can imagine the trembling in Peter’s shoulders as he turns to leave – the tightening at the corners of his eyes that only happens when the teenager is trying not to cry. The kid’s footsteps are slow and methodical as he makes his way to the door of the warehouse, and Tony wills him to hurry, to leave before his hideous doppelganger can deliver the killing blow –

Instead, there is a shuffle of footsteps as though Peter has turned on his heel.

_“Wait! Wait, please – please don’t do this. Please. I’ll – I’ll do better, I promise I will! I’ll – you can have the suit, you can keep it, just – and I won’t, I – I’ll stop coming over so much. I won’t bother you, just please, Tony. I just – I need you, and – ”_ Peter’s tone is familiar in its desperation. But the last time Tony heard it, the kid was turning to dust in his hands. Unconsciously, he raises his hand to his mouth as though to keep from being sick.

Not-Tony snorts derisively. _“I should’ve left you for dead when I had the chance.” _

The roaring in Tony’s ears drowns out any reply.

– – -

_Ten hours earlier_

–

Peter is freezing. He’s never been able to tolerate cold well, and his only clothing underneath the suit had been his shorts and vest. But the prospect of asking Tony for clothes – for anything at all – hadn’t crossed his mind.

It’s as if the realization of his worst fears, his worst insecurities, has short-circuited something in his brain. He feels numb beneath the cold, can focus only on taking the next step, the next step, the next step…

So he walks.

“Peter? Is that you?” A familiar voice calls out from behind him.

Almost mechanically, Peter turns to face the man.

“Oh. Hi. I was just…” His lips are numb, his voice flat. What is he doing? Where is he going? He can’t remember.

His physics teacher frowns, glancing both ways down the street before jogging across to meet him. Peter waits politely for him to catch up. Now that he’s still, he can’t seem to find the desire to move any further.

“I was just at the bar across the street, thought I heard a commotion – Peter, are you okay?” The man reaches out a hand to clasp Peter’s shoulder.

For some reason, the simple touch is his undoing.

“No,” he croaks out. His eyes begin to burn and he drops his gaze, humiliated.

His teacher squeezes his shoulder once. “C’mon. I live close by.”

– – -

Peter allows himself to be lead just two blocks down and into an alleyway where a dilapidated walk-up awaits them. He wonders, in a detached kind of way, what kind of meager salary Midtown pays its faculty – by the looks of this place, they can’t afford much in the way of rent.

They enter into a dimly lit kitchen where the man gestures for Peter to take a seat at the tiny round table in the corner of the room and reaches for the coffee machine, which seems to have a pot already waiting; Peter wonders whether the man was expecting company. “Sit down, Peter. How do you take it? Cream? Sugar?”

“I – um, both?” Peter’s never been much of a coffee-drinker, but it’ll give him something to do with his hands at the very least. “Um, thanks for doing this, Mr. Rio. Tonight – it’s been – well, thanks.”

“Please, Peter. We’re not in school. Call me Quentin,” His teacher smiles as he passes Peter the steaming mug. “Tell you what, I’ll grab you some clothes while you drink. You can’t walk home looking like that. Wait here, okay?”

Quentin disappears out of the kitchen. Peter takes a few gulps of his coffee, savoring the way it burns away at the lump in his throat on the way down.

_I think this relationship has run its course, don’t you?_

The words play back endlessly through his mind. His skin is crawling with it.

_I brought you back. Maybe that’s where I went wrong._

He takes another long sip, hoping the steam will clear out the sudden congestion in his sinuses before he has to speak to Quentin.

On the wall, a dusty clock tells him it’s nearly 2AM. May will be at her night-shift until morning, and won’t meet back up with Peter until the afternoon. There will be no morning message from Tony to answer.

_Get the hell out of my life._

He drains his mug in one long gulp.

On a small table by the door, something catches his eye: a newspaper bearing a familiar photograph. The New York Times had done a feature on Tony after his incredible victory. On its cover, the photograph depicted the man himself, surrounded by his family: Pepper, Happy, Rhodey – and Peter.

_Swanning around my home as if you think you’re my son._

He remembers the way Tony had flatly refused to allow any publication of his daughter’s face – he’d said he didn’t want her growing up in his shadow the way he’d grown up in Howard’s, always to be compared and scrutinized by a merciless press.

But he’d allowed Peter to be in the shot – had even thrown his arm around him. Like he was proud. _Why?_

The grief is threatening to overwhelm him now, is clouding his mind. He feels strangely heavy with it. Heavy and weak, and so, so tired.

“It’s a nice picture,” says Quentin from somewhere behind him.

Peter turns to look at him. It takes longer than it should – he feels as if he’s moving through sludge, wading through sand…

“I couldn’t believe my luck when I first saw it. There I was, dreaming up ways to make him pay for what he did, and what do you know? The guy is stupid enough to let a major news outlet run a story on the private life he’s hidden for _years_. All the people nearest and dearest to him.” Quentin smiles.

For the first time, it dawns on Peter that the prickling on the back of his neck – the crawling of his skin – is not down to emotion.

“Thing is, most of them are just __impossible__ to get to. Can you imagine trying to kidnap the C.E.O. of Stark Industries? Or a bunch of ex-military guys? Never gonna happen. But you–you were _perfect_.”

Quentin draws closer, and Peter tries to rise from his chair, but his legs won’t support him – he crashes hard to the linoleum floor. His teacher is still smiling.

“Oh, it’s nothing personal, Pete. You’re a bright kid! You would’ve had a bright future.” Quentin shakes his head as though disappointed. “But you won’t be the first person to have their life destroyed by Tony Stark. I used to work for the guy, did you know that? Me and some of my friends. You’ve met one of them already – he’s a better scientist than he is an actor, but his screaming got you to turn up all the same, didn’t it?”

Peter tries to move, but it feels as though he’s buried under rubble again. Every hair on his body is standing on end. “How…?”

“Oh, how did I know about your little alter-ego?” Quentin asks. His eyes are bright and eager at the question. He looks as if he’s enjoying himself. “Well, that’s the thing, Pete – I didn’t! Not until your buddy Ned went and bragged to his little girlfriend about his pal Spider-Man right smack in the middle of my classroom. The look on your face when he said it!” He laughs. “God, kid, how have you kept it secret this long? Anyway, it works out great in the end. Makes my job a little easier.”

Peter isn’t sure whether it’s because Quentin is purposefully toying with him or because whatever he’s been drugged with is slowing his thinking, but he can’t connect the dots. He tries to ask, but finds that he can no longer open his mouth to speak – he’s paralyzed.

Quentin chuckles as though he sees the question in Peter’s eyes.

“Jesus, kid, aren’t you supposed to be smart?” And then his face falls, and he looks almost remorseful. “Aw, man, I’m sorry, Pete. That was mean. Look – I’ve really enjoyed being your teacher. And this whole superhero gig you’ve got going – it’s admirable, it really is. But your friend Tony deserves to pay for what he’s done, and there’s no way I’m getting close enough to the guy to kill him myself.”

Even as he feels the muscles in his face go slack, the alarm bells in Peter’s head are blaring, and his eyes dart frantically between his teacher’s. Quentin nods, smiling again as though pleased.

“Yeah, see? You figured it out, right? Knew you’d get there eventually. It’ll work like this: I’ve got your suit. I get to play the role of the Amazing Spider-Man, but – uh oh!” Quentin steps closer. “Spider-Man’s lost it! He’s blowing up buildings, he’s killing innocent people! Tony Stark’s little side-kick is out destroying his reputation!”

Peter tries to yell, but nothing escapes his vocal cords. Horror is clawing at his throat. Quentin carries on.

“See, as soon as Stark sees Spider-Man on a rampage through the city, he’ll zoom right in out of retirement to save the day. But Iron Man won’t lift a finger against Spider-Man, will he? Tony would never risk hurting Peter Parker.”

Quentin drops down beside Peter, and he catches a final glimpse of the savage pleasure on the man’s face as he reaches to gently close the eyelids that are frozen open.

“Easy peasy, right? Spider-Man will have no trouble killing Tony Stark.”

Peter’s eyes are closed, and the world goes dark.

“And once it’s all over, Peter – once Iron Man has fallen and the world is closing in on Spider-Man…he’ll fall, too. Right off a building, and down to his death. And for that, I’m going to need a body.”

The darkness pulls Peter down, and he knows no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was blown away by the kind response to the last chapter - thank you so much to everyone who left kudos and comments! I don't know whether it's the site or my computer that's to blame, but every time I try to reply to a comment, I get booted out of my account and have to log back in. If anyone has an idea on how to fix this, please let me know - in the meantime, feel free to send me a message or ask on tumblr if you'd like a reply!
> 
> A few notes: although this story is already written, I wrote it by hand in my notebook while on bed-rest, and have been typing it out on my laptop and editing as I go, hence the delay between chapters. I'm still not sure if the final part of the story will be in one chapter or if it'll read better split in half with the latter part serving as an epilogue, so the final chapter count may change.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I've been off the site for a while dealing with some health stuff, and this story evolved as a kind of emotional exorcism. So. This is very different from anything I've written before, in that it has something resembling an actual plot. It's also mostly finished, but too long to post all in one go. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger! I'm also sorry in advance, because things will get worse before they get better. (But when do I ever write anything that doesn't have a happy ending?)
> 
> Title and opening quote come from Enter Sandman by Metallica.
> 
> For a visual of the classic prank Tony pulls on Peter in the first scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A67jp7TqNAg
> 
> If you want, come find me on tumblr! I'm wingcharm over there.
> 
> I'm a little terrified about posting this story, so please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading!


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